Lindenwold man who killed ex-girlfriend, left their child at scene gets life plus 7 years in prison

Google MapsA map of Lindenwold, N.J., where a man stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death and left their toddler son at the scene.

CAMDEN — A Lindenwold man who stabbed the mother of his child 30 times, leaving the toddler behind after the murder, will have to live until he is 104 to be released from prison on parole, a Superior Court judge determined Monday.

Troy Whye, 39, was sentenced to life for killing Krystal Skinner, 23 inside her Lindenwold apartment in March 2008. Authorities found the couple’s 2-year-old son, John, by her mother’s body. Whye was also given a seven-year term — to run consecutively to the murder conviction — for endangering the welfare of a child.

Under the term imposed by Superior Court Judge Samuel Natal, Whye was essentially sentenced to serve 75 years — of which he would have to complete 85 percent before being eligible for parole — for murder. Under the endangering conviction, Whye would have to serve an additional 15 months.

Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said it would be 104 before Whye could step out of prison.

Whye was convicted by a jury in November . Skinner — a student at Rutgers University in Camden — was trying to end her relationship with Whye. In March 2008, he followed through on years of threats and stabbed Skinner approximately 30 times in the hallway of her home in the Laurel Hill Apartments.

Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Sally Smith emphasized during the sentencing hearing Whye’s lengthy history of domestic abuse in her argument for a lengthy prison term. She noted Whye had six prior municipal convictions and four prior convictions for indictable crimes, most of which are related to domestic incidents with Skinner and prior girlfriends. Skinner had tried repeatedly to end her relationship with Whye without success.

“Krystal Skinner tried very, very hard to break off her relationship with this individual but he was the penultimate domestic violence offender,” Smith said. “He lived by his credo, ‘If I can’t have you, no one can.’ ”

Smith played for the court a recording of a March 8, 2006, statement Krystal Skinner gave to the Camden Police reporting threats Whye had made against her. During that statement she told police Whye said, “You ain’t leaving me if it’s not in a casket. You ain’t going nowhere. I’ll leave my son motherless.”

During his own statements during the hearing, Whye responded to the recording.

“We all know women lie sometimes,” he said to the judge.

Whye was convicted of harassment in connection with the 2006 incident.

Skinner’s sister Brittany Skinner, of Pennsauken also spoke during the hearing.

“The most devastating part of this entire incident is that this crime has left an innocent boy without his mother,” she said. “Krystal is no longer able to plan a fun day at the zoo or the beach with her son. She will not be there for the milestones in his life such as his first day of school, graduation or his wedding day.”

She described her sister as a woman focused on her goal of becoming a social worker. She was interning with the state Division of Youth and Family Services at the time of her death and would have graduated from Rutgers in May 2008.

“Krystal was brought up with a great work ethic and she was determined to ensure her son had a chance at a good life,” Brittany Skinner said.